After initially excluding the traditional Indian martial art, silambam, from the 2026 Malaysia Games (Sukma), host state Selangor has now proposed that the sport be included in the upcoming games.
The Selangor government proposed including silambam and two other sports – petanque and Muay Thai – in the 2026 Sukma “in the spirit of unity and to drive the development of national sports”.
State youth, sports and entrepreneurship committee chairman Najwan Halimi said this followed several appeals filed by national and state-level sports associations asking for certain sports to be reconsidered in the upcoming games.
“After reviewing the applications and information presented, the Selangor executive council has agreed for the secretariat of the 2026 games to propose to the Sukma supreme committee to include the three additional sports,” he said in a statement.
Najwan, who chairs the organising committee for the games, said this reflected the state government’s commitment to expanding participation in the 2026 Sukma and empowering various sporting disciplines, from grassroots to the national level.
He said the final decision is subject to the agreement of all state representatives in the Sukma supreme committee chaired by the youth and sports minister, adding that this must be finalised by Aug 15.
Yesterday, youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh acknowledged disappointment over silambam’s exclusion, but pointed out that Muay Thai was also not selected.
Yeoh said the host state in every Sukma edition had the freedom to choose the sports they wanted to be contested in the games.
She also urged against racialising silambam’s exclusion by injecting racial sentiment into the sports selection process.
Her comments came after a PKR Youth leader claimed that silambam’s exclusion disregarded the importance of legacy sports, and rejected the notion that the Indian community had sufficient representation through other sports such as kabaddi and karate.
Najwan called on all parties to stop politicising sports or playing up narrow racial sentiments in relation to the matter.
“Sports are a platform for unity that bring Malaysians together across race, religion and political ideology, and should be celebrated in a spirit of genuine and inclusive sportsmanship,” he said.
